The specificritual use of ayahuasca was widespread among Indigenous groups by the 19th century, though its precise origin is uncertain. Ayahuasca is traditionally prepared bymacerating and boilingB. caapi with other plants likePsychotria viridis during a ritualistic, multi-day process. Ayahuasca has been used in diverse South American cultures for spiritual, social, and medicinal purposes, often guided by shamans in ceremonial contexts involving specific dietary and ritual practices, with theShipibo-Konibo people playing a significant historical and cultural role in its use. It spread widely by the mid-20th century throughsyncretic religions inBrazil. In the late 20th century, ayahuasca use expanded beyond South America toEurope,North America, and elsewhere, leading to legal cases, non-religious adaptations, and the development of ayahuasca analogs using local or synthetic ingredients.
While DMT is internationally classified as a controlled substance, the plants containing it—including those used to make ayahuasca—are not regulated underinternational law, leading to varied national policies that range from permitting religious use to imposing bans or decriminalization. TheUnited States patent office controversially granted, challenged, revoked, reinstated, and ultimately allowed to expire a patent on the ayahuasca vine, sparking disputes over intellectual property rights and the cultural and religious significance of traditional Indigenous knowledge.
Ayahuasca produces intense psychological and spiritual experiences with potential therapeutic effects. Ayahuasca’s psychoactive effects primarily result from DMT, rendered orally active byharmala alkaloids inB. caapi, which act asreversible inhibitors of monamine oxidase;B. caapi and itsβ-carbolines also exhibit independent contributions to ayahuasca’s effects, acting onserotonin andbenzodiazepine receptors.[2][3]Systematic reviews show ayahuasca has strongantidepressant andanxiolytic effects with generally safe traditional use, though higher doses of ayahuasca or harmala alkaloids may increase risks.
Ayahuasca is thehispanicized spelling (i.e., spelled according to Spanish orthography) of a word that originates from theQuechuan languages, which are spoken in the Andean states ofEcuador,Bolivia,Peru, andColombia. Speakers of Quechuan languages who usemodern Quechuan orthography spell itayawaska.[4] The word refers both to thelianaBanisteriopsis caapi, and to the brew prepared from it. In the Quechua languages,aya means "spirit, soul", or "corpse, dead body", andwaska means "rope" or "woody vine", "liana".[5] The wordayahuasca has been variously translated as "liana of the soul", "liana of the dead", and "spirit liana".[6] In thecosmovision of its users, the ayahuasca is the vine that allows the spirit to wander detached from the body, entering the spiritual world, otherwise forbidden for the alive.
Althoughayahuasca is the most widely used term inPeru,Bolivia,Ecuador and Brazil, the brew is known by many names throughout northern South America:
hoasca oroasca in Brazil
yagé (oryajé, from theCofán language oriagê inPortuguese). Relatively widespread use inAndean andAmazonian regions throughout the border areas of Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil.[7] The Cofán people also use the wordoofa.
caapi (orkahpi/gahpi inTupi–Guarani language[which?] or*kaapi inproto-Arawak language), used to address both the brew and theB. caapi itself. Meaning "weed" or "thin leaf", it was the word utilized bySpruce for naming the liana.[8]
pinde (orpindê/pilde), used by theColorado people[9]
Daime orSanto Daime, meaning "give me" in Portuguese, the term was coined by Santo Daime's founderMestre Irineu in the 1940s, from a prayerdai-me alegria, dai-me resistência ("give me happiness, give me strength"). Daime members also uses the wordsLuz ("light") orSanta Luz ("holy light")
Some nomenclature are created by the cultural and symbolic signification of ayahuasca, with names likeplanta professora ("plant teacher"),professor dos professores ("teacher of the teachers"),sagrada medicina ("holy medicine") orla purga ("the purge").
In the last decades, two new important terminologies emerged. Both are commonly used in the Western world inneoshamanic,recreative orpharmaceutical contexts to address ayahuasca-like substances created without the traditional botanical species, due to it being expensive and/or hard to find in these countries. These concepts are surrounded by some controversies involvingethnobotany, patents,commodification andbiopiracy:[25][26][27]
Anahuasca (ayahuasca analogues). A term usually used to refer to the ayahuasca produced with other plant species as sources of DMT (e.g.,Mimosa hostilis) or β-carbolines (e.g.,Peganum harmala).[28]
Pharmahuasca (pharmaceutical ayahuasca). This indicates thepills produced from freebase DMT, synthetic harmaline, MAOI medications (such asmoclobemide) and other isolated or purified compounds or extracts.[29]
Archaeological evidence of the use of psychoactive plants in northeastern Amazon dates back to 1500–2000 BCE. Anthropomorphic figurines, snuffing trays and pottery vessels, often adorned with mythological figures and sacred animals, offer a glimpse of thepre-Columbian culture regarding use of the sacred plants, their preparation and ritual consumption [citar naranjo 86].[citation needed] Although several botanical specimens (like tobacco,coca andAnadenanthera spp.) were identified among these objects,[30] there is no unequivocal evidence of this date referring directly to ayahuasca.Banisteriopsis caapi use is suggested from a pouch containing carved snuffing trays, bone spatulas and other paraphernalia with traces ofharmine andDMT, discovered in a cave in southwestern Bolivia in 2008,[31] and chemical traces of harmine in the hair of two mummies found in northern Chile.[32] Both cases are linked toTiwanaku people, circa 900 CE. There are several reports of oral and nasal use ofAnadenanthera spp. (rich inbufotenin) ritualistically and therapeutically during labor and infancy, and researchers suggest that addition ofBanisteriopsis spp. to catalyze its psychoactivity emerged later, due to contact between different groups of Amazon andAltiplano.[33]
Despite claims by numerous anthropologists and ethnologists, such asPlutarco Naranjo,[34] regarding the millennial usage of ayahuasca, compelling evidence substantiating its pre-Columbian consumption is yet to be firmly established. As articulated byDennis McKenna:[30]
"No one can say for certain where the practice may have originated, and about all that can be stated with certainty is that is already spread among numerous indigenous tribes throughout Amazon basin by the time ayahuasca came to the attention of Western ethnographers in the mid-nineteenth century"
The first western references of the ayahuasca beverage dates back to seventeenth century, during theEuropean colonization of the Americas. The earlier report is a letter fromVincente de Valverde to theHoly Office of the Inquisition.[35] Jose Chantre y Herrera still in the seventeenth century, provided the first detailed description of a "devilish potion" cooked from bitter herbs and lianas (calledayaguasca) and its rituals:[36]
"[...] In other nations, they set aside an entire night for divination. For this purpose, they select the most capable house in the vicinity because many people are expected to attend the event. The diviner hangs his bed in the middle and places an infernal potion, known as ayahuasca, by his side, which is particularly effective at altering one's senses. They prepare a brew from bitter vines or herbs, which, when boiled sufficiently, must become quite potent. Since it's so strong at altering one's judgment in small quantities, the precaution is not excessive, and it fits into two small pots. The witch doctor drinks a very small amount each time and knows well how many times he can sample the brew without losing his senses to properly conduct the ritual and lead the choir".
Another report produced in 1737 by the missionaryPablo Maroni, describes the use of a psychoactive liana called ayahuasca for divination in theNapo River, Ecuador:[37]
Ayahuasca cooking
"For divination, they use a beverage, some ofwhite datura flowers, which they also call Campana due to its shape, and others from a vine commonly known as Ayahuasca, both highly effective at numbing the senses and even at taking one's life if taken in excess. They also occasionally use these substances for the treatment of common illnesses, especially headaches. So, the person who wants to divine drinks the chosen substance with certain rituals, and while deprived of their senses from the mouth downwards, to prevent the strength of the plant from harming them, they remain in this state for many hours and sometimes even two or three days until the effects run their course, and the intoxication subsides. After this, they reflect on what their imagination revealed, which occasionally remains with them for delirium. This is what they consider accomplished and propagate as an oracle."
Latter reports were produced by Juan Magnin in 1740, describing ayahuasca use as a medicinal plant by theJivaroan peoples (calledayahuessa)[38] and byFranz Xaver Veigl in 1768, that reports about several "dangerous plants", including a bitter liana used forprecognition and sorcery.[39] All these reports were written in context ofJesuit missions in South America, specially theMainas missions,[40] inLatin and sent only to Rome, so their audience wasn't very large and they were promptly lost in the archives. For this reason, ayahuasca didn't receive interest for the entire subsequent century.[41]
In academic discourse, the initial mention of ayahuasca dates back toManuel Villavicencio's 1858 book, "Geografía de la República del Ecuador." This work vividly delineates the employment and rituals involving ayahuasca by theJivaro people.[42] Concurrently,Richard Spruce embarked on an Amazonian expedition in 1852 to collect and classify previously unidentified botanical specimens. During this journey, Spruce encountered and documentedBanisteriopsis caapi (at time namedBanisteria caapi) and observed an ayahuasca ceremony among theTucano community situated along theVaupés River. Subsequently, Spruce uncovered the usage and cultivation ofB. caapi among various indigenous groups dispersed across the Amazon and Orinoco basins, like theGuahibo andSápara. These multifarious encounters, together with Spruce's personal accounts of subjective ayahuasca experiences, were collated in his work, "Notes of a Botanist On The Amazon and Andes.".[43] By the end of the century, other explorers and anthropologists contributed more extensive documentation concerning ayahuasca, notably theTheodor Koch-Grünberg's documents about Tucano andArecuna's rituals and ceremonies,[44][45]Stradelli's first-hand reports of ayahuasca rituals and mythology along theJurupari andVaupés[46] and Alfred Simson's first description of admixture of several ingredients in the making of ayahuasca inPutumayo region, published in 1886.[47]
In 1905, Rafael Zerda Bayón named the active extract of ayahuasca astelepathine, a name latter used by the Colombian chemist Guillermo Fischer Cárdenas when he isolated the substance in 1932.[48] Contemporaneously,Lewin[49] and Gunn[50] were independently studying the properties of thebanisterine, extracted of theB. caapi, and its effects on animal models.[51] Further clinical trials were being conducted, exploring the effects of banisterine on Parkinson's disease.[52][53] Later it was found that bothtelepathine andbanisterine are the same substance, identical to a chemical already isolated fromPeganum harmala and given the nameHarmine.[54]
Researchers likePeter Gow and Brabec de Mori argue that ayahuasca use indeed developed alongside the Jesuit missions after the 17th century. By examining theícaros (ayahuasca-related healing chants), they found that the chants are always sung inQuechua (alingua franca along the Jesuit and Franciscan missions in the region), no matter the linguistic background of the group, with similar language structures between different ícaros that are markedly different from other indigenous songs. Moreover, often the cosmology of ayahuasca often mirrors the Catholicism, with particular similarities in the belief that ayahuasca is thought to be the body ofayahuascamama that is imbibed as part of the ritual, like wine and bread are taken as being the body and blood of Jesus Christ duringChristian Eucharist. Brabec de Mori called this “Christian camouflage” and suggested that rather than being a way for disguising the ayahuasca ritual, it suggests that practice evolved entirely within these contexts.[55][40]
Indeed, the colonial processes in Western Amazon are intrinsically related with the development of ayahuasca use in the last three centuries, as it promoted a deep reshape in traditional ways of life in the region. Many indigenous groups moved into the Missions, seeking protection from death and slavery promoted by theBandeiras, inter-tribal violence, starvation and disease (smallpox). This movement resulted in an intense cultural exchange and resulted in the formation ofmestizos (in Spanish) orcaboclos (in Portuguese), a social category formed by people with mixture of European and native ancestry, who were an important part of the economy and culture of the region.[56] According to Peter Gow, the ayahuasca shamanism (the use of ayahuasca by a trained shaman to diagnose and cure illnesses) was developed by thesemestizos in the processes of colonial transformation.[55] TheAmazon rubber cycles (1879–1912 and 1945–1945) sped up these transformations, due to slavery, genocide and brutality against indigenous populations and large migratory movements, specially from the BrazilianNortheast Region as a workforce for the rubberplantations. Themestizo practices became deeply intertwined with the culture of rubber workers, calledcaucheros (in Spanish) orseringueiros (in Portuguese). Ayahuasca use with therapeutic goals is the main result of thisTrans-cultural diffusion, with some practitioners pointing thecaucheros as the main responsible for using ayahuasca to cureall sort of ailments of the body, mind and soul, with even some regions using the termYerba de Cauchero ("rubber-worker herb"). As a result, the ayahuasca shamans in urban areas andmestizo settlements, specially in the regions ofIquitos andPucallpa (in Peru), became thevegetalistas, folk healers who are said to gain all their knowledge from the plants and the spirits bound to it.[57]
So thevegetalist movement was a heterogeneous mixture of Western Amazon (mestizo shamanic practices andcauchero culture) andAndean elements (shaped by other migratory movements, like those originated from Cuzco throughUrubamba Valley and from western Ecuador), influenced by Christian aspects derived from the Jesuit missions, as reflected by the mythology, rituals and moral codes related tovegetalista ayahuasca use.[57]
Althoughmestizo,vegetalista and indigenous ayahuasca use was part of a longer tradition, these several configurations ofmestizo vegetalismo were not isolated phenomena. In the end of the nineteenth century, several messianic/millennialist cults sparkled across semi-urban areas across the entire Amazon region, merging different elements of indigenous andmestizo folk culture with Catholicism, Spiritism andProtestantism.[57][58] In this context, the use of ayahuasca will take form of urban, organized non-indigenous religions in outskirts of main cities of northwest of Brazil, (along the basins ofMadeira,Juruá andPurus River)[59] within thecauchero/seringueiro cultural complex, resignifying and adapting both thevegetalista andmestizo shamanism to new urban formations, unifying essential elements to building a cosmology for the new emerging cult/faith, merging with elements of folk Catholicism, African-Brazilian religions and Kardecist spiritism. These new cults arise from charismatic leaderships, often messianic and prophetic, who came from rural areas after migration movements, sometimes calledayahuasqueiros, in semi-urban communities across the borders of Brazil, Bolívia and Peru (a region that will later form the state ofAcre).[56] This new configuration of these belief systems is referred by Goulart astradição religiosa ayahuasqueira urbana amazônica ("urban-amazonianayahuasqueiro religious tradition")[60] orcampo ayahuasqueiro brasileiro ("brazilianayahuasqueiro field") by Labate,[61] emerging as three main structured religions, the Santo Daime and Barquinha, inRio Branco and the União do Vegetal (UDV) inPorto Velho, three denominations that, notwithstanding shared characteristics besides ayahuasca utilization, have several particularities regarding its practices, conceptions and processes building social legitimacy and relationships with Brazilian government, media, science and other society stances.[62] Since the latter half of twentieth century, the ayahuasca religious expanded to other parts of Brazil and several countries in the world, notably in the West.[63]
Beat writerWilliam S. Burroughs read a paper byRichard Evans Schultes on the subject and while traveling through South America in the early 1950s sought out ayahuasca in the hopes that it could relieve or cureopiateaddiction (seeThe Yage Letters). Ayahuasca became more widely known when the McKenna brothers published their experience in the Amazon inTrue Hallucinations.Dennis McKenna later studied pharmacology,botany, andchemistry of ayahuasca andoo-koo-he, which became the subject of his master's thesis.
Richard Evans Schultes allowedClaudio Naranjo to make a special journey by canoe up the Amazon River to study ayahuasca with the South American Indigenous peoples. He brought back samples of the beverage and published the first scientific description of the effects of its active alkaloids.[64]
Ayahuasca being prepared in theNapo region ofEcuador
Sections ofBanisteriopsis caapi vine aremacerated and boiled alone or with leaves from any of a number of other plants, includingPsychotria viridis (chacruna),Diplopterys cabrerana (also known aschaliponga andchacropanga),[75] andMimosa tenuiflora, among other ingredients which can vary greatly from one shaman to the next. The resulting brew may contain the powerfulpsychedelic drugdimethyltryptamine andmonoamine oxidase inhibitingharmala alkaloids, which are necessary to make theDMT orally active by allowing it (DMT) to be processed by theliver. The traditional making of ayahuasca follows a ritual process that requires the user to pick the lower Chacruna leaf at sunrise, then say a prayer. The vine must be "cleaned meticulously with wooden spoons"[76] and pounded "with wooden mallets until it's fibre."[76]
Brews can also be made with plants that do not contain DMT,Psychotria viridis being replaced by plants such asJusticia pectoralis,Brugmansia, or sacred tobacco, also known asmapacho (Nicotiana rustica), or sometimes left out with no replacement. This brew varies radically from one batch to the next, both in potency and psychoactive effect, based mainly on the skill of the shaman or brewer, as well as other admixtures sometimes added and the intent of the ceremony. Natural variations in plant alkaloid content and profiles also affect the final concentration ofalkaloids in the brew, and the physical act of cooking may also serve to modify the alkaloid profile ofharmala alkaloids.[77][78]
The actual preparation of the brew takes several hours, often taking place over the course of more than one day. After adding the plant material, each separately at this stage, to a large pot of water, it is boiled until the water is reduced by half in volume. The individual brews are then added together and brewed until reduced significantly. This combined brew is what is taken by participants in ayahuasca ceremonies.
Ayahuasca cooking in theLoreto region ofPeruAyahuasca being prepared inEcuador
The uses of ayahuasca in traditional societies inSouth America vary greatly.[79] Some cultures do use it for shamanic purposes, but in other cases, it is consumed socially among friends, in order to learn more about the natural environment, and even in order to visit friends and family who are far away.[79]
Nonetheless, people who work with ayahuasca in non-traditional contexts often align themselves with the philosophies and cosmologies associated with ayahuascashamanism, as practiced amongIndigenous peoples like theUrarina of thePeruvian Amazon.[80][79] Dietary taboos are often associated with the use of ayahuasca,[81] although these seem to be specific to the culture aroundIquitos,Peru, a major center of ayahuasca tourism.[79] Ayahuasca retreats orhealing centers can also be found in theSacred Valley of Peru, in areas such asCusco andUrubamba, where similar dietary preparations can be observed. These retreats often employ members of theShipibo-Konibo tribe, an indigenous community native to the Peruvian Amazon.[82]
In the rainforest, these taboos tend towards the purification of one's self—abstaining from spicy and heavily seasoned foods, excess fat, salt, caffeine, acidic foods (such as citrus) and sex before, after, or during a ceremony. A diet low infoods containing tyramine has been recommended, as the speculative interaction oftyramine andMAOIs could lead to ahypertensive crisis; however, evidence indicates thatharmala alkaloids act only onMAO-A, in a reversible way similar tomoclobemide (an antidepressant that does not require dietary restrictions). Dietary restrictions are not used by the highly urban Brazilian ayahuasca churchUnião do Vegetal, suggesting the risk is much lower than perceived and probably non-existent.[81]
The ritual use of ayahuasca by theAchuar people is featured in theBruce Parry 2008 documentary seriesAmazon, in which Parry forces himself to participate in the rite.
Shamans,curanderos and experienced users of ayahuasca advise against consuming ayahuasca when not in the presence of one or several well-trained shamans.[83]
In some areas, there are purportedbrujos (Spanish for "witches") who masquerade as real shamans and who entice tourists to drink ayahuasca in their presence. Shamans believe one of the purposes for this is to steal one's energy and/or power, of which they believe every person has a limited stockpile.[83]
The shamans lead the ceremonial consumption of the ayahuasca beverage,[84][85] in a rite that typically takes place over the entire night. During the ceremony, the effect of the drink lasts for hours. Prior to the ceremony, participants are instructed to abstain from spicy foods, red meat and sex.[86] The ceremony is usually accompanied withpurging which include vomiting and diarrhea, which is believed to release built-up emotions andnegative energy.[87][85]
It is believed that the Shipibo-Konibo are among the earliest practitioners of Ayahuasca ceremonies, with their connection to the brew and ceremonies surrounding it dating back centuries, perhaps a millennium.[88]
Some members of the Shipibo community have taken to the media to express their views on Ayahuasca entering the mainstream, with some calling it "thecommercialization of ayahuasca." Some of them have even expressed their worry regarding the increased popularity, saying "the contemporary 'ayahuasca ceremony' may be understood as a substitute for formercosmogonicalrituals that are nowadays not performed anymore."[89]
The Shipibo have their own language, calledShipibo, aPanoan language spoken by approximately 26,000 people in Peru and Brazil. This language is commonly sung by the shaman in the form of a chant, called anIcaro,[85] during the Ayahuasca ritual as a way to establish a "balance of energy" during the ritual to help protect and guide the user during their experience.[90]
Traditional ayahuasca brews are usually made withBanisteriopsis caapi as anMAOI, whiledimethyltryptamine sources and other admixtures vary from region to region. There are severalvarieties of caapi, often known as different "colors", with varying effects, potencies, and uses.
Common admixtures with their associated ceremonial values and spirits:
Ayahuma[91] bark: Cannon Ball tree. Provides protection and is used in healing susto (soul loss from spiritual fright or trauma).
Capirona[91] bark: Provides cleansing, balance and protection. It is noted for its smooth bark, white flowers, and hard wood.
Chullachaki caspi[91] bark (Byrsonima christianeae): Provides cleansing to the physical body. Used to transcend physical body ailments.
Lopuna blanca bark: Provides protection.
Punga amarilla bark: Yellow Punga. Provides protection. Used to pull or draw out negative spirits or energies.
Remo caspi[91] bark: Oar Tree. Used to move dense or dark energies.
Wyra (huaira) caspi[91] bark (Cedrelinga catanaeformis): Air Tree. Used to create purging, transcend gastro/intestinal ailments, calm the mind, and bring tranquility.
Shiwawaku bark: Brings purple medicine to the ceremony.
Uchu sanango: Head of the sanango plants.
Huacapurana: Giant tree of the Amazon with very hard bark.
Bobinsana (Calliandra angustifolia): Mermaid Spirit. Provides major heart chakra opening, healing of emotions and relationships.
In the late 20th century, the practice of ayahuasca drinking began spreading to Europe, North America and elsewhere.[94] The first ayahuasca churches, affiliated with the BrazilianSanto Daime, were established in theNetherlands. A legal case was filed against two of the Church's leaders, Hans Bogers (one of the original founders of the Dutch Santo Daime community) and Geraldine Fijneman (the head of theAmsterdam Santo Daime community). Bogers and Fijneman were charged with distributing acontrolled substance (DMT); however, the prosecution was unable to prove that the use of ayahuasca by members of the Santo Daime constituted a sufficient threat to public health and order such that it warranted denying their rights toreligious freedom underECHR Article 9. The 2001 verdict of the Amsterdam district court is an important precedent. Since then groups that are not affiliated to the Santo Daime have used ayahuasca, and a number of different "styles" have been developed, including non-religious approaches.[95]
InPeru, retreat centers such as Blue Morpho, founded by Hamilton Souther, inIquitos began offering ayahuasca ceremonies to foreign visitors around 2004. International media coverage brought wider attention to the practice and coincided with the growth of ayahuasca tourism.[96][97][98]
In modern Europe and North America, ayahuasca analogs are often prepared using non-traditional plants which contain the same alkaloids. For example, seeds of theSyrian rue plant can be used as a substitute for the ayahuasca vine, and the DMT-richMimosa hostilis is used in place ofchacruna. Australia has several indigenous plants which are popular among modernayahuasqueros there, such as various DMT-rich species ofAcacia.
In the short term, ingesting Ayahuasca can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. These three effects, known as purging, are traditionally recognized to be a part of the spiritual experience of ayahuasca. Physiologically, vomiting is a result of increasedserotonin circulating in the gut, which directly stimulates thevagus nerve.[100] Other short-term side effects includeincreased blood pressure andtachycardia. Additionally, increased secretion of hormones likeprolactin,cortisone, andgrowth hormone has been correlated with ayahuasca consumption.[101] Rarer side effects includedyspnea,seizures andserotonin syndrome. Ayahuasca is suspected of triggeringpsychosis andschizophrenia in people with a predisposition to the condition, and there is a lack of safety information for Ayahuasca's possible effects on pregnancy and breastfeeding.[102]
People who have consumed ayahuasca report having mystical experiences andspiritual revelations regarding their purpose on earth, the true nature of theuniverse, and deep insight into how to be the best person they possibly can.[103] Many people also report therapeutic effects, especially around depression and personal traumas.[104]
This is viewed by many as a spiritual awakening and what is often described as a near-death experience or rebirth.[83]: 67–70 It is often reported that individuals feel they gain access to higher spiritualdimensions and make contact with various spiritual or extra-dimensional beings who can act as guides or healers.[105]
The experiences that people have while under the influence of ayahuasca are also culturally influenced.[79] Westerners typically describe experiences with psychological terms like "ego death" and understand the hallucinations as repressed memories or metaphors of mental states.[79] However, at least inIquitos, Peru (a center of ayahuasca ceremonies), those from the area describe the experiences more in terms of the actions in the body and understand the visions as reflections of their environment, sometimes including the person who they believe caused their illness, as well as interactions with spirits.[79]
Most psychological effects can be accredited to the influx ofserotonin caused by the psychoactive combination of DMT withbeta-carbolines. Serotonin stimulates a group of G-protein coupled receptors known as5-HT receptors. Specifically, stimulation of the5-HT2A receptor type is correlated with hallucinogenic effects.[106]
Ayahuasca has also been studied for the treatment of addictions and shown to be effective, with lowerAddiction Severity Index scores seen in users of ayahuasca compared to controls.[110][111][112][109] Ayahuasca users have also been seen to consume lessalcohol.[113]
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a naturally occurring, serotonergic hallucinogen found in plants and mammals, classified as aDEA Schedule I substance with no accepted medical use, and under investigation for clinical applications.[3]
Ayahuasca’s psychoactive effects stem mainly from DMT, made orally active by MAOIs in theB. caapi vine, and its activation ofserotonin receptors, particularly5-HT2A, with additional contributions from harmine and harmaline.[2]
While many studies focus on DMT and serotonin agonists, recent research and traditional use highlight the central role of theB. caapi vine and itsβ-carbolines in ayahuasca, noting their potential psychotropic effects through serotonin and benzodiazepine receptor interactions.[2]
Harmala alkaloids likeharmaline andharmine are believed to cause hallucinations, vomiting, confusion, andataxia through central nervous system stimulation and 5-HT receptor binding, similar to DMT.[2]
Harmine is a naturally occurring harmala alkaloid with monoamine oxidase-inhibiting under preliminary research for potential anti-HIV properties.[3] It is found in various plants such asPeganum harmala andB. caapi, historically studied forParkinson’s disease and currently in early-phase clinical trials.[3]
Harmine is the primary β-carboline alkaloid in ayahuasca and has been studied for potential therapeutic effects including modulation ofastrocytic function,anti-inflammatory properties, influence on neural progenitor proliferation, and possible roles inaddiction anddepression treatment through mechanisms involvingglutamate regulation andBDNF signaling.[2]
Harmaline is a beta-carboline alkaloid derived from theharman skeleton, found in various organisms includingPeganum seeds, and acts as aoneirogen.[114]
Tetrahydroharmine, a component of ayahuasca with weakSSRI properties, has been associated with increased serotonin uptake sites and variable psychoactive effects, with preferences for higher tetrahydroharmine content reported in some ayahuasca-using churches, potentially due to differences in plant composition and preparation methods.[2]
Individualpolymorphisms of thecytochrome P450-2D6 enzyme, and more over the isolated indocine metabolite from the inhabitation of CPY134a, with a varied rate of gustation due to physiological factors affect the ability of individuals to metabolize harmine.[116]
Internationally, DMT is a Schedule I drug under theConvention on Psychotropic Substances. The Commentary on the Convention on Psychotropic Substances notes, however, that the plants containing it are not subject to international control:[117]
The cultivation of plants from which psychotropic substances are obtained is not controlled by the Vienna Convention... Neither the crown (fruit, mescal button) of thePeyote cactus nor the roots of the plantMimosa hostilis nor Psilocybe mushrooms themselves are included in Schedule 1, but only their respective principals,mescaline,DMT, andpsilocin.
InPeru, ayahuasca is legal and formally protected as part of the country’s cultural heritage. When ratifying the 1971Convention on Psychotropic Substances, Peru entered a reservation to exclude Ayahuasca andSan Pedro from international control, citing their traditional ritual use by Amazonian peoples (United Nations Treaty Collection, 1971).[118] This position was reinforced on 24 June 2008, when theInstituto Nacional de Cultura declared the traditional knowledge and ceremonial use of Ayahuasca by Indigenous communities asPatrimonio Cultural de la Nación (Cultural Heritage of the Nation).[119]
Afax from the Secretary of theInternational Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to the Netherlands Ministry of Public Health sent in 2001 goes on to state that "Consequently, preparations (e.g. decoctions) made of these plants, including ayahuasca, are not under international control and, therefore, not subject to any of the articles of the 1971 Convention."[120]
Despite the INCB's 2001 affirmation that ayahuasca is not subject to drug control by international convention, in its 2010 Annual Report the Board recommended that governments consider controlling (i.e. criminalizing) ayahuasca at the national level. This recommendation by the INCB has been criticized as an attempt by the Board to overstep its legitimate mandate and as establishing a reason for governments to violate the human rights (i.e., religious freedom) of ceremonial ayahuasca drinkers.[121]
Under American federal law, DMT is a Schedule I drug that is illegal to possess or consume; however, certain religious groups have been legally permitted to consume ayahuasca.[122] A court case allowing theUnião do Vegetal to import and use the tea for religious purposes in the United States,Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, was heard by theU.S. Supreme Court on November 1, 2005; the decision, released February 21, 2006, allows the UDV to use the tea in its ceremonies pursuant to theReligious Freedom Restoration Act. In a similar case in Ashland, Oregon-based Santo Daime church sued for their right to import and consume ayahuasca tea. In March 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Panner ruled in favor of the Santo Daime, acknowledging its protection from prosecution under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.[123]
In 2017 theSanto Daime Church Céu do Montréal in Canada received religious exemption to use ayahuasca as a sacrament in their rituals.[124]
Religious use in Brazil was legalized after two official inquiries into the tea in the mid-1980s, which concluded that ayahuasca is not a recreational drug and has valid spiritual uses.[125]
In France,Santo Daime won a court case allowing them to use the tea in early 2005; however, they were not allowed an exception for religious purposes, but rather for the simple reason that they did not perform chemical extractions to end up with pure DMT and harmala and the plants used were not scheduled.[126] Four months after the court victory, the common ingredients of ayahuasca as well as harmala were declaredstupéfiants, or narcotic schedule I substances, making the tea and its ingredients illegal to use or possess.[127]
In June 2019,Oakland, California, decriminalized natural entheogens. The City Council passed the resolution in a unanimous vote, ending the investigation and imposition of criminal penalties for use and possession of entheogens derived from plants or fungi. The resolution states: "Practices with Entheogenic Plants have long existed and have been considered to be sacred to human cultures and human interrelationships with nature for thousands of years, and continue to be enhanced and improved to this day by religious and spiritual leaders, practicing professionals, mentors, and healers throughout the world, many of whom have been forced underground."[128]In January 2020,Santa Cruz, California, and in September 2020,Ann Arbor, Michigan, decriminalized natural entheogens.[129][130][131]
Ayahuasca has stirred debate regarding intellectual property protection oftraditional knowledge.[132] In 1986 the US Patent and Trademarks Office (PTO) allowed the granting of a patent on the ayahuasca vineB. caapi. It allowed this patent based on the assumption that ayahuasca's properties had not been previously described in writing. Several public interest groups, including the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) and the Coalition for Amazonian Peoples and Their Environment (Amazon Coalition) objected. In 1999 they brought a legal challenge to this patent which had granted a private US citizen "ownership" of the knowledge of a plant that is well-known and sacred to manyIndigenous peoples of the Amazon, and used by them in religious and healing ceremonies.[133]
Later that year the PTO issued a decision rejecting the patent, on the basis that the petitioners' arguments that the plant was not "distinctive or novel" were valid; however, the decision did not acknowledge the argument that the plant's religious or cultural values prohibited a patent. In 2001, after an appeal by the patent holder, the US Patent Office reinstated the patent, albeit to only a specific plant and its asexually reproduced offspring. The law at the time did not allow a third party such as COICA to participate in that part of the reexamination process. The patent, held by American entrepreneur Loren Miller, expired in 2003.[134]
A 2024 review found that traditional ayahuasca use is generally safe, although higher doses of ayahuasca or higher doses of isolatedharmala alkaloids likeharmaline may pose risks.[102]
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